Apply online and late applications or late changes of preferences

Applications for secondary school entry in September 2026 open at 9:00am on 1 September 2025. The statutory closing date is at 11:59pm on 31 October 2025.

Applications for secondary school transfers received after 31 October 2025 will only be considered after applications received on time have been processed. Late applications will be processed after 2 March 2026.

Late applicants are less likely to get a place at one of their preferred schools for their child, as most schools in Birmingham fill to their published admissions numbers with on time applicants that met their admissions criteria.

List six different secondary schools in order of preference.

If your child attends any of the following all-through schools in Year 6, do not list the school as one of your six preferences. Your child will automatically move up from Year 6 to Year 7 in September 2026 and listing the school as a preference will waste one of your preferences.

• Ark Kings Academy
• Ark Victoria Academy
• Bournville School
• Star King Solomon Academy
• Washwood Heath Academy
• Waverley School

Ensure you include details of any siblings attending your preferred school(s) in the field (box) provided for sibling details. Sibling details included in the wrong field (box), such as reasons for preference, will not be counted and may prevent you from gaining a place at your preferred school. If you fill in the online application incorrectly, you are liable for not completing the form correctly, not School Admissions and Fair Access Service.

Make sure you have read the admission arrangements fully for the schools you are interested in and know how likely it is that your child will be offered a place there. It is important that you include at least one realistic preference for a school that your child would have met the criteria for in previous years.

If you have included preferences for any schools that require you to complete a supplementary information form or includes social and medical needs in the criteria and require you to send evidence, you must send the supplementary information form and/or any required supporting medical evidence directly to the school. Failure to do this may mean that your child’s application is assessed by the school under a lower criterion, and they may not be offered a place.

Do not use this application form if your child has an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP). For children with an EHCP, visit the SENAR Local Offer website.

Before you submit your application

Read the guidance below before submitting your online application.

Download Parent’s guidance to submit online application, change of preferences and password resets

Apply online

Apply online from 1 September 2025

You will receive an email confirmation that you have submitted your application form. Please check this to make sure everything is correct.

Change your preferences

You can change your order of preferences right up to 11:59pm on 31 October 2025.

If you amend your preferences, you must re-submit your application form before the closing date. If you do not re-submit the form, your application will not be processed.

We will take your final submission as the application to process.

Late applications

Late applications open on 1 November 2025. Applications received after the statutory closing date (31 October 2025) for secondary transfers will only be considered after applications received on time and processed after the 2 March 2026.

We can only accept late applications with exceptional circumstances up to 9 November 2025 for secondary transfers. After this date, we cannot treat any late applications as on time because we will be exchanging data with other admission authorities, including neighbouring councils, as part of the coordinated admissions scheme.

We only consider applications received after the closing date as on time if there are exceptional circumstances that prevented the parent or carer from applying by the deadline. Examples include:

• a recent change of address involving the child and the person with parental responsibility
• situations where the local authority has contacted the parent or carer regarding information in their application, for instance, if the application was incomplete or contained potentially misleading details requiring further investigation.

If you feel you meet the exceptional circumstances outlined above, you must submit your late application, along with supporting evidence or documentation, to Birmingham Local Authority for Secondary Transfers between 1 November 2025 and 9 November 2025.

Important

• You must email your evidence to admissions@birmingham.gov.uk, and in the subject field of your email, you must mark it as 'Exceptional Circumstances' and include your online application reference number (e.g. 330-2025-09-E-897451), and you must explain your exceptional reasons or circumstances in your email and attach any relevant documents or evidence to support your request (where applicable).
• We can only consider applications submitted as late but with exceptional circumstances if the above process is followed completely.
• We will not request evidence or documentation from late applicants who claim exceptional circumstances but do not provide supporting information with their application.
• Evidence or documentation must be sent in with the email as stated above by the parent or carer and cannot be provided retrospectively after 9 November 2025.
• The exceptional circumstances process only applies to parents or carers who were unable to apply by 31 October 2025. If you applied by the specified date but later make changes to your preferences between 1 and 9 November 2025, your changes will be treated as a late application. This means your application will not be processed until after 2 March 2026, regardless of the reason.

Page last updated: 28 October 2025